


all of my heroes die all alone

by kryptonianmenace



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, The Archer fits Cissie so well and not just cos she's literally an archer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kryptonianmenace/pseuds/kryptonianmenace
Summary: help me hold on to youi've been the archeri've been the preyscreaming, "who could ever leave me, darling...but who could stay?"A reflection on Cissie King-Jones
Kudos: 1





	all of my heroes die all alone

**Author's Note:**

> Title and summary from The Archer by Taylor Swift

It wasn’t an easy decision for Cissie.

Sure, Arrowette was something her mom made her do at first, but it grew into something more. It grew into something uniquely Cissie’s.

Vigilantism was part of her.

Arrowette was Cissie and Cissie was Arrowette.

So retiring? It wasn’t just some split second decision she made.

Her friends didn’t get it.

She was leaning too hard towards being too cruel and she just… she didn’t want to go down that route. They say you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. But Cissie didn’t want either of that.

They were all just kids. God, they were just kids, you know? They shouldn’t have to worry about having blood on their hands. Yet here they were.

Cissie was scared of her potential to draw blood, and that’s why she retired. She wasn’t ashamed to admit it. She was afraid of the spilled blood in every fight on both sides, afraid of going too far.

And then her friends started dying.

God, they were just kids.

Her remaining friends were cracking at the seams and she wanted to cry because all she can think is how you either die a hero or live to be a villain, unless you were Cissie and you got out when you were sixteen.

And how was that fair?

Why should she get to live a hero, retired, while her friends die or spiral out of control?

And sure, her living friends were still heroes, but how long until they cross a line? Tim was trying to clone Conner, something Conner would hate. One line already crossed. Cassie joined a cult. How many more lines crossed? And did anyone even know that Bart was dead? Did anyone even care?

Her friends were dying and spiralling out and Young Justice was just an abandoned memory, and she was just Cissie, retired hero.

She’s been the archer, and she used to think “who could ever leave me?” but now she’s asking “who could stay?” 

The answer is no one.

**Author's Note:**

> [Check out my tumblr!](https://haljordanisbatman.tumblr.com/)


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